Privacy policy

Introduction – Who are we?

The National Social Work Agency (NSWA) is an executive agency of the Scottish Government.

We have a dual role. We're responsible for leading excellence and driving positive change across the social work profession in Scotland, and for providing expert impartial social work advice to Scottish Ministers and Scottish Government policy teams.

General information

This privacy notice explains your rights under the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and UK General Data Protection Regulation (UKGDPR). It describes the personal data we collect about you (and why we need this information), who we share it with, how we store it and how we use it.

When we process your personal information, we promise to:

make sure you know why we need it
only ask for what we need, and not collect too much or irrelevant information
make sure it is accurate and up to date
let you know if we share it with other organisations, unless we have a legal obligation to pass it on without telling you
protect it and make sure nobody has access to it who shouldn't
make sure we don't keep it longer than is necessary

Personal data (which we will call ‘data’ throughout the rest of this notice) means any information that might identify you.

Controller’s contact details

The NSWA falls under the legal entity of the Scottish Ministers in relation to processing of your personal information.

We're the controller for the personal information we process, unless otherwise stated.

Contact us

Email: admin@socialwork.gov.scot
Post: National Social Work Agency, Area 2B South, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ

What information we collect, use, and why

We collect or use the following personal information for information updates, including newsletters, surveys and questionnaires, and events in relation to updates etc. about national developments to support the social work profession and social work workforce, including students:

names and contact details
roles / professions / practice area
organisations / sectors
location

We collect or use the following personal information for dealing with queries, complaints:

names and contact details
correspondence

Lawful bases and data protection rights

Under UK data protection law, we must have a ‘lawful basis’ for collecting and using your personal information.

There is a list of possible lawful bases in the UK GDPR. You can find out more about lawful bases on the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website.

Which lawful basis we rely on may affect your data protection rights which are set out in brief below.

You can find out more about your data protection rights and the exemptions which may apply on the ICO’s website.

Your right of access

You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information. You can request other information such as details about where we get personal information from and who we share personal information with. There are some exemptions which means you may not receive all the information you ask for.

Your right to rectification

You have the right to ask us to correct or delete personal information you think is inaccurate or incomplete.

Your right to erasure

You have the right to ask us to delete your personal information.

Your right to restriction of processing

You have the right to ask us to limit how we can use your personal information.

Your right to object to processing

You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data.

Your right to data portability

You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you.

Your right to withdraw consent

When we use consent as our lawful basis you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

To make a data protection rights request

Please contact us at:

Email: admin@socialwork.gov.scot
Post: National Social Work Agency, Area 2B South, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ

If you make a request, we must respond to you without undue delay and within one month.

Our lawful bases for the collection and use of your data

Our lawful bases for collecting or using personal information for information updates, marketing or market research purposes are:

Consent: we have permission from you after we have given you all the relevant information. All of your data protection rights may apply. To be clear, you do have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

Our lawful bases for collecting or using personal information for dealing with queries, complaints or claims are:

Public task: the processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the exercise of the Scottish Ministers’ functions under Section 25(1)(b) of the Care Reform (Scotland) Act 2025 (asp 9), which empowers Ministers to make regulations concerning the provision of information about social work and social care services.

Where we get personal information from

The personal information we process is provided to us directly by you for example by one of the following reasons. You:

have made a complaint or enquiry to us
wish to attend, or have attended, an event or meeting
subscribe to our newsletter
have responded to a survey
have made an information request to us
have applied for a job or secondment with us
are representing your organisation

Who we share your data with

We may share your personal information with Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and Social Work Scotland as part of the Scottish Social Work Partnership.

COSLA and Social Work Scotland will ensure that your data is managed effectively and stored in a secure location.

Your data will not be shared outside of the UK, or with any other third parties. We may also share your data with independent contractors for the purposes of processing for evaluation purposes.

The Scottish Social Work Partnership is a consensus-based partnership led by National Social Work Agency, COSLA and Social Work Scotland that enables collaboration between national and local partners to ensure joined-up delivery and shared leadership across the sector.

The Scottish Social Work Partnership coordinates and aligns national and local efforts and activities for workforce improvement and is underpinned by a strategic plan for the social work workforce.

How long we keep information

We will only keep your personal data for as long as it is required or for a period of 3 years from the date we receive it, after which time it will be destroyed.

Any independent contractor involved in the collection, storage, and processing of data for evaluation purposes will also destroy this data when it is no longer required by the National Social Work Agency, COSLA and Social Work Scotland, or after a period of 3 years, whichever comes first.

Individuals can ask us to remove their details by contacting admin@socialwork.gov.scot

How to get in touch if you have any concerns

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal data, including compliance with data protection laws, please contact our Data Protection Officer in the first instance at DataProtectionOfficer@gov.scot.

They will look into the concerns you have raised and provide the response.

Your right to complain

If you remain unhappy with how we’ve used your data after raising a complaint with us, you can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office either via:

Email: Scotland@ico.org.uk
complaints page on their website

Version history of this privacy notice

We keep our privacy notice under regular review to make sure it is up to date and accurate. Regularly reviewing this page ensures that you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances we share it with other parties.

Date last reviewed

13 April 2026